Proper Confidence in the Gospel: The Theology of Lesslie Newbigin

This month marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the great missionary theologian Lesslie Newbigin. I believe that his writing and theology is more relevant and essential than ever for the UK Church.

In the 1930s Newbigin went to South India as a missionary and then for 27 years served as a Bishop in the newly formed ecumenical Church of South India. When he returned to England in the 1970s, he taught and wrote extensively on mission and served within the United Reformed Church.

Three years ago, I bought a copy of Newbigin’s 1995 book ‘The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission’ in a second hand bookshop and I can safely say it was the best £4 I have ever spent. I work for a Christian organisation that helps churches develop their mission to their local community www.communitymission.org.uk. I can honestly say that no other writer has inspired and equipped me more in my work.

From liberal to evangelical

One of the most significant points in Newbigin’s theological journey was his transition from liberal to evangelical theology.

While at Cambridge University in the 1920s, Newbigin came to faith within the Student Christian Movement (SCM). During one of his summer vacations he helped run recreational activities for unemployed men in a deeply depressed area. Although it was a Christian mission, the strict liberal ethos meant that “anything in the way of religion was excluded from the programme”. Newbigin records that “as the weeks went by, I became less and less convinced that we were dealing with the real issues…these men needed some kind of faith that would fortify them for today and tomorrow against apathy and despair...they needed the Christian Faith.”

While studying for the ministry Newbigin decided to study Romans in depth. He writes “I began the study as a typical liberal. I ended it with a strong conviction about ‘the finished work of Christ’ and the centrality and objectivity of the atonement finished on Calvary…at the end of the study I was much more of an evangelical than a liberal…but this shift in no way implied a lessening of commitment to social and political issues” Newbigin’s later theology echoes this commitment both to the uniqueness of Christ and the cross, and the Church’s social and political relevance.

Despite a theological commitment which was deeply evangelical, Newbigin did not participate within the Evangelical sub-culture. Newbigin’s autobiography notes with sadness how Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union did not even consider SCM members Christians during his time at Cambridge. Newbigin later held senior positions within ecumenical bodies such as the Church of South India and the World Council of Churches (WCC) and when he returned to the UK he chose to serve within the United Reformed Church (URC).

Proper confidence in the gospel

After 40 years abroad, Newbigin returned to the UK. “In the subsequent years of ministry in England I have often been asked ‘What is the greatest difficulty you face in moving from India to England?’ I have always answered ‘the disappearance of hope.’ ”. In this challenging environment, the intrinsically missionary nature of the Church is more vital than ever.

For Newbigin a ‘missionary encounter’ with culture is central to being an authentic Church. Yet the influence of liberal theology had inflicted deep wounds on the Church’s confidence to engage faithfully. “I began to receive invitations to take part in conferences...I began to feel very uncomfortable with much that I heard. There seemed to be so much timidity in commending the gospel to the unconverted people of Britain”.

Consequently, a central theme in Newbigin’s writings is the ‘proper confidence’ that the Church needs to display in the gospel. This deep confidence is in contrast to the brittle form of confidence shown by fundamentalism or the lack of confidence shown by reductionist liberal theology. Newbigin argued that both of these were enslaved in different ways to enlightenment thinking. Instead he urged Christians to be confident in a worldview shaped by God’s revelation in the Bible and with the ‘fact of Jesus Christ’ as the central ‘clue to history’.

I want to highlight two specific insights within Newbigin’s theology which I believe are central to having ‘proper confidence’ in the gospel and in its dynamic relevance in today’s world. These insights are firstly, the gospel as public truth and secondly, the true meaning of the doctrine of election.

1) The gospel as public truth
Newbigin continually asserts the authority of Jesus Christ as public truth. Belief and acceptance of this authority is a personal decision but one with public intent. “The authority of Jesus cannot be validated by reference to some other authority that is already accepted” because the gospel is a new starting point, a new lens to see the world by. When Jesus’ disciples are challenged with the question, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Their only possible answer is “in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:7-10). This Lordship extends to all things and “because the authority of Jesus is ultimate, the recognition of it involves a commitment that replaces all other commitments”.

This ultimate authority means that in it’s declaration of the gospel the Church is not articulating a spiritual or inward truth but a social and political reality. The task of the church is to live out this confession and commitment in the public square. The Bible does not advocate an overly spiritualised or individualised form of discipleship and witness.

On this issue it is worth quoting him at length: “The community that confesses Jesus is Lord has been, from the beginning, a movement launched into the public life of mankind. The Greco-Roman world in which the New Testament was written was full of societies offering to those who wished to join a way of personal salvation. There were several commonly used Greek words for such societies. At no time did the church use any of these names for itself…it used with almost total consistency the name ‘ecclesia’– the ecclesia theou, the assembly called by God…The Church could have escaped persecution by the Roman Empire if it had been content to be treated as a cultus privatus.”.

Of course there are the dangers of imperialism and arrogance that can come in declaring that our truth is public and relevant for all. Newbigin was a missionary during the height of the backlash against imperialism and the guilt of the Western Church. But this is where we need ‘proper confidence’ in the gospel rather than arrogance about the Church. The Church must always be mindful of the nature of the servant kingship that Jesus embodied as our example. However it is clear Jesus’ humble actions were rooted in a deep confidence about his authority: “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power” (John 13:3). We should always remain humble without losing deep confidence in the unique authority of Jesus.

2) The true meaning of the doctrine of election
The fact that the gospel of Jesus Christ has public authority throws up many challenges that need to be responded to. Is it not judgemental and morally indefensible to claim the superiority of one religion above all others? In our post-modern culture, is it not preposterous to turn our private beliefs into a claim to ultimate truth? Even the Bible teaches that God loves all people, so surely tolerance of all beliefs is the truly Christian approach?

We cannot deny that there is a Biblical tension between the universality of God’s love for all people and the uniqueness of his revelation through Jesus. Newbigin argues that the “key to the relation between the universal and the particular is God’s way of election - the doctrine that permeates and controls the whole Bible. The one (or few) is chosen for the sake of the many; the particular is chosen for the sake of the universal.”

Newbigin acknowledges that to even discuss election is to invite ridicule from many. But instead of sterile and judgemental discussions over the scope of election, Newbigin focuses on the purpose of those chosen. The elect are not the exclusive beneficiaries of God’s grace, but rather those charged with the responsibilities to carry this blessing for the sake of others. “It is not concerned with offering a way of escape for the redeemed soul out of history, but with the action of God to bring history to its true end.”

Thus Abraham and the nation of Israel are elected by God from among all the nations to declare and display God’s saving power. This did not mean that Israel was better than the other nations, in fact the Biblical account often contrasts other nations’ behaviour as more akin to God’s standards. Yet, as Brian McLaren puts it: “to be chosen by God is to be chosen for service, to be chosen on behalf of others, to be blessed so one can bring blessings to them”.

The misunderstanding of the nature of election has been a disaster in missionary theology because so often those elected forget they are charged with the message to share and to live out. Time is wasted on fruitless speculation about ‘who gets to heaven’ rather than the task of bearing witness to God’s forgiveness and saving love now.

This aspect of Newbigin’s writing requires a strong and confident belief that what God did in the death and resurrection of Christ is unique and that through Jesus all people can experience new life and forgiveness now. This is the gospel which brings new life –this is news that we want to share!

Yet this strong commitment to salvation in Jesus’ name does not mean being judgemental to others, as commanded in Luke 6:37-42 we must leave judgement to God. We also have to remember that in Jesus’ stories of judgement there is almost always an element of surprise –the first are last and expectations are reversed (e.g. Luke 16:19-31). As Newbigin states “the question of eternal salvation and judgement is not a basis for speculation about the fate of other people: it is a an infinitely serious practical question addressed to me”.

Newbigin’s legacy

Newbigin never claimed to be an academic theologian – he remained committed to the role of preacher, pastor and evangelist. His theological insights were worked out in the context of mission and this brings an authenticity and freshness which adds greater weight to his reflections.

For me the primary contribution his legacy gives to the Church is the resources for us to have ‘proper confidence’ in the gospel. His deeply Biblical thinking is done within the context of modern culture and gives us a basis for mission that is exciting, demanding and faithful to Jesus. For evangelicals who seek to engage socially and politically his teaching warns us to avoid losing our nerve about the gospel as public truth. And his teaching on election allows clarity around the uniqueness of Christ’s achievement without the baggage of judgemental attitudes to others.

Newbigin has shown me that the missionary task lies at the very heart and purpose of what it means to be Church. We cannot follow Jesus without being engaged in mission in his world. ‘The commitment is not to a cause, or a programme but to a person – at the heart of Christian mission must remain a commitment to serving Christ in his community’.

Jon Kuhrt is Community Mission Director at Livability

John Kuhrt, 27/01/2010